Cosmos

~ Laura

We don’t have a weekend routine these days. For years, our weekends revolved around Jonah’s soccer games. We socialized with other families in folding chairs on the edge of the field. But Jonah is in high school now and has moved on to the less social world of track and field. The boys aren’t going to big birthday parties at jumpy castle centers. It’s nice to have an open schedule, but we aren’t quite sure how to arrange our time. We are slowly setting up new family rituals.

Enter Cosmos.

Last night, we watched Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos, Episode One. It was the best family oriented, television show that I’ve seen in ages. Sitting in front of green screen, Tyson swooped in a space ship around the rings of Saturn and to edges of the galaxy. My education about space ended in about seventh grade (Pluto isn’t a planet anymore?), so the boys and I were on equal footing. It was  educational, but no one noticed or minded.

It’s difficult to find things on television that are appropriate for everyone. Primetime sitcoms have too much sex. Steve watches the cartoons on the Cartoon Network with the kids, but Annoying Orange and The Regular Show make my head hurt. The reality singing shows don’t hold their attention. We’ll watch movies together, but I miss the days when you looked forward to a particular show on a particular night. I miss the routines of a television schedule.

Why aren’t there more shows like Cosmos on television? Entertaining and appropriate for all ages?

Published by Laura

7 thoughts on “Cosmos”

  2. We watch it as a family, too. Even my 6 year-old digs it! Never would have guessed I would enjoy a show produced by Seth MacFarlane so much!

    Like

  3. We didn’t like it. More commercials than content. If you’re into space exploration stuff, there was nothing new.

    We were very disappointed.

    Like

  4. Your reminder was the incentive i needed to find out exactly when Cosmos was on and to set the DVR to record. Fortunately the first 4 episodes are still available on FOX, so we’ll be able to catch up. The kiddo has been saying she wants to watch this for a while, but we haven’t made it happened. The review saying it’s a good show for the whole family is an big incentive.

    We don’t watch much television and only watch as a group activity (minus the netflix I watch when folding laundry and that spouse watches while working out), so good for the whole family is a requirement. You’re right that the sitcoms have too much sex and I (and spouse) can’t stand cartoon network so we have a tough time trying to find things to watch together as we’ve gone through our lists. Dr. Who was deemed to scary by our little guy. Right now, we’re cycling through Knightrider and Saved by the Bell, which are not great solutions for obvious reasons.

    Like

    1. “Right now, we’re cycling through Knightrider and Saved by the Bell, which are not great solutions for obvious reasons.”

      I feel for you.

      Like

      1. Agreed. I can’t imagine watching Knightrider as an adult. And seeing Saved by the Bell just makes me think about the later videos that a couple of the cast made.

        Like

  5. Couldn’t agree more. We have been watching Cosmos as a family too, and just last night, I thought the same thing – we need more shows that all of us can watch together. We sometimes watch MythBusters together, but not as a regular, sit-down appointment together.

    Like

Comments are closed.